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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Senior Special Test Lead - **Company:** The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc - **Location:** Cambridge, MA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $82,300.0 - $220,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, Inventory Management Software, SC Clearance - **Published:** May 19, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=3f887fef83fc1126 ## About the Role * Curiosity-driven approach to solving complex, industry and customer-driven problems as part of a multi-disciplinary team. * Collaborate and communicate effectively and openly with multi-disciplinary program team members. program leadership, and non-technical personnel * Be a team player able to work in a fast-paced environment with the ability to balance multiple competing tasks and demands. Education Requires a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field. Experience Requires 5-7 years in Systems Engineering or relevant role. Additional Job Description: * Experience operating environmental test cells and their supporting software. * Experience with environmental test planning and execution * Decisive leadership skills & problem-solving under pressure. * Strong interpersonal & communication skills (both verbal and written). * Organization skills with strong attention to detail. ## Description The Special Test Lead has the responsibility for oversight of Draper's Special Enhanced Ground Test (SEGT) Facility. The Test Lead should have a strong understanding of environmental test planning, preparation, execution and surveillance for a variety of environmental test cells. The Test Lead is responsible for developing test plans in support of the development and acceptance of the test cells. The Test Lead is expected to have a mindset of continuous process improvement and support staff training to meet the requirements of the SEGT Facility. * Maintain 5 year facilities plan, including research and approved purchase/installation of all capital equipment. * Able to take ownership of assignments and guide others as needed; successfully lead tasks while tracking priorities, scope, cost and schedule. * Derive plans, approaches, procedures for solving complex I&T problems across a program lifecycle, capturing all assumptions and adapting appropriately to changes in requirements with limited direction. * Independently contributes high quality content for technical reports and presentations which shows an understanding of their task and an awareness of the intended audience. Demonstrates both confidence and success when presenting technical information during meetings with internal and external stakeholders. * Identify program/system-level technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies. * Responsible for the overall Special Test Facility Surveillance to include but not limited to test cell usage data collection and failure rate analysis * Responsible for Sparing Plan / Obsolescence Tracking that includes Identification of Critical Parts (e.g., high failure rates); Sparing Quantities (minimum # parts on-hand) - CAPEX; Storage & Inventory Tracking * Responsible for planning for Preventative Maintenance that is preformed by Draper and External Vendors. * Support the acquisition/upgrades/repair for all the test cells that are included in the Special Test Facility. These tasks include requirements development, facility planning, quotes, work with administration team for procurement (reqs, POs, etc.), installation & acceptance /re-certification * Responsible for hiring plan for team of technicians to execute testing on test cells, * Able to take ownership of assignments and guide others as needed; successfully lead tasks while tracking priorities, scope, cost and schedule. * Derive plans, approaches, procedures for solving complex I&T problems across a program lifecycle, capturing all assumptions and adapting appropriately to changes in requirements with limited direction. * Independently contributes high quality content for technical reports and presentations which shows an understanding of their task and an awareness of the intended audience. Demonstrates both confidence and success when presenting technical information during meetings with internal and external stakeholders. * Identify program/system-level technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies. * Actively mentor less experienced engineers and provide thoughtful, constructive feedback * Performs other duties as assigned. ## Related Videos - [Why Your Best Mediors Never Become Seniors (And How to Fix It)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2108-why-your-best-mediors-never-become-seniors-and-how-to-fix-it) - [Swapping a Data Warehouse at Runtime: Zero-Downtime Migration Without Changing a Single Client](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100311-swapping-a-data-warehouse-at-runtime-zero-downtime-migration-without-changing-a-single-client) - [Model Based Systems Engineering in an Agile Product Development Process](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/68-model-based-systems-engineering-in-an-agile-product-development-process) - [Robots are coming into the wild! 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